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Members of the class of 2014 were born after the Backstreet Boys formed and they probably never used dial-up Internet: 30 facts about the class

Cumberland Valley High School Graduation 2013

Alexa Mandak, left, and Vikki Katsifis take a photo at Cumberland Valley High School graduation held at the Giant Center, Hershey, Saturday, June 8, 2013. The graduating class of 2014 is defined by Justin Bieber, Hannah Montana and never having lived in a world without DVD players.
VICKI VELLIOS BRINER, Pennlive.com

The graduating high school class of 2014 is getting ready to toss their caps, so we take a look at what defined (and didn't define) these 18-year-olds. Prepare to feel really old.

Former Pa. Gov. Tom Ridge

1. Tom Ridge was the Pennsylvania governor when the graduating class of 2014 was born. When they were in kindergarten, Ridge, a Republican, became the first U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security.

2. Beyonce Knowles has been a solo artist since they were 9, and they probably don't remember when Destiny's Child had four members.

3. There's a good chance members of the class of 2014 never heard this glorious sound. Dial-up Internet begun its slow decline in the late 1990s.

4. Members of this class may have never used a corded phone. Cordless phones hit the market in 1994, and this class has probably only seen rotary phones in their grandparents' homes.

5. They don't remember hearing Monica Lewinsky's name on the news for months. Lewinsky was a 22-year-old White House intern when news surfaced that she had a sexual relationship with then-President Bill Clinton.

6. The current graduating class was about five years old and in kindergarten on Sept. 11, 2001, when hijacked planes hit the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and crashed in a field in western Pennsylvania.

Patrons enjoy The Great Bear on opening day at Hersheypark. 05/04/2012SEAN SIMMERS

7. The Great Bear – which opened in 1998 -- has pretty much always been a roller coaster at Hershey Park. The popular Lightening Racer opened when they were 8 years old.

22. Lady Gaga released her debut album in 2008 when they were in middle school, and she has been one of the main musical influences for the class of 2014.

23. Mike Tyson has always been that guy that bit off someone else's ear.

24. They were in middle school when Selena Gomez appeared on Wizards of Waverly Place on the Disney Channel.

25. They're also some of the original Beliebers. Justin Bieber's debut album was released in 2009 while this class was in middle school.

26. There has pretty much always been a spinoff of the original "Law and Order" series, and they were 3 years old when "The West Wing" debuted on NBC.

27. The Toyota Prius has always been a thing somewhere in the world.

28. If "The Simpsons" were the animated sitcom of the 1990s, then "Family Guy" was the definitive adult cartoon for the class of 2014. The raunchy animated sitcom debuted on Fox in 1999 and was revived in 2005.

29. They've never lived in a world without text messaging.

30. DVD players have always been the preferred mode of movie-watching.

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